Good build, clarity, definition, spectral balance through the low-mid-range.

None

Although advertised as having a 10-inch woofer, they actually have a 6 1/2 inch woofer, with what appears to be a neoprene surround. The tweeter is as advertised. The enclosure is ported and is about twice as deep as most speaker systems of this design. The cabinet volume is about twice what it might normally be. The cabinet is very solidly made and braced, with three point-mounts for bolting them to their stands. The accompanying stands are very rigid, heavy, and well-braced. Ive used the speakers with and without their stands. This speaker's strongest suit is its spectral balance. It holds from the top to the lowest frequencies. It will reproduce a cello or a piano that sounds like one - even withut a sub-woofer. Vocals are also quite good. Spatial cues are well-reproduced and they have an open quality. Clarity and definition are outstanding. They are excellent bookshelf mains. But it is also a wonderful center channel and a great surround speaker. I have been through at least four center speakers using D'appolito configurations. In its normal vertical configuration, the D'appolito array is quite good. But in a horizontal array, the tennis-paddle distribution pattern is in the vertical rather than the horizontal plane. No such problem with this speaker. In the center, I just turn it on its side. In the rear surrund position, I use it vertically. The fill is open, full, and complete. In these positions, their low-frequency output is not needed. As a matter of fact, when five speakers plus a subwoofer are all radiating bass, the bass is smeared, audibly so. I finally have gone to a 200 Hz crossover frequency to the subwoofer. And I use that on all the speakers in the system so that the subwoofer radiates bass from only one point in the room. I've learned that bass sources scattered about the room may not be a good thing. Having done that, the E-5 is a great speaker at any price. They can be had for anywhere from about $90-129/pr. including stands. This speaker is also marketed as the Voytek V-100.

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Altec A-7, Rectilinear, Bose, Bozak Symphony, JBL, Advent, AR, University, Klipsch, Advent, EPI, Infinity towers, Yamaha NS-500, Cerwin-Vega, Polk, Paradigm, Fluance